South Jordon Creek Parkway Improvements (formerly S. 74th Street) West Des Moines, Iowa
The city of West Des Moines selected the firm to complete the concept design, preliminary and final design, bid letting services, and construction administration and observation for the South Jordan Creek Parkway Improvements from Grand Avenue to 1000' south of Mills Civic Parkway. Nearly 1.5 miles in length, South Jordan Creek Parkway is a major north-south arterial that serves as the primary route to the future Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM) Campus. This campus is the single largest economic development project ever undertaken in the state of Iowa.
The city selected the firm to complete this project due to a track record of completing large, complex projects on-time and on-budget. The design addressed the ultimate corridor traffic projections approaching 45,000 VPD and the immediate morning peak hour turning movements of nearly 650 to 1000 vehicles. To accomplish this, the project was divided in two distinct sections. The first section was grading and installation of underground utilities for approximately two-thirds of the corridor for the ultimate 6-lane divided arterial roadway and paving only the east three lanes.
The second section for approximately one-third of the corridor was constructing the ultimate build: a six-lane arterial, dual left turn lanes and right turn lanes with the associated utilities.
Project Features:
- Complete new alignment across virgin ground had to take into account sensitive environmental concerns
- Drainage design included a 830-acre watershed with five major cross culverts and six separate storm sewer systems
- The project included 600,000 cubic yards of excavation and over 52,000 square yard of paving
- Geotechnical design identified unsuitable shale material. This information was included in the cross sections and earthwork computation
- Over 35 acquisition plats, temporary easements and permanent drainage easements were obtained
- Engineers coordinated with multiple agencies and consultants working in the same project area.
- The project schedule was accelerated
